Universal support:
Children can be supported to develop their speech, language and communication skills, by using some simple strategies. To support you to think about how you help children’s speech, language and communication in your setting, take a look at some ideas and resources below.
For professionals working in early years:
- Take a look at our Lancashire checklist and guidance: Language leads - Lancashire County Council. You can use the checklist to review your practice and identify any areas for development; the guidance notes provide examples and lots of links to useful information to support you.
- Settings in Blackpool can find more information about support available here: SLC Intro Page – Blackpool Better Start
- If you would like to update your knowledge and skills around supporting children in Early Years, take a look at our workshops here
- Consider how you support and engage with parents/carers to help their child at home.
Targeted support:
Some children may need a little extra support to develop their speech, language or communication skills, but without needing the specialism of a Speech and Language Therapist. Below are some useful links to help you think about the targeted level of support you could offer:
If you have been supporting a child at a universal and targeted level and have ongoing concerns, you may wish to seek an assessment from a Speech and Language Therapist. You can do so using the referral form here.
There are some cases where we would advise referral for specialist assessment sooner, without having worked through the ‘road map’ above. These are where your main areas of concern are:
- Stammering
- Selective Mutism
- Social communication difficulties (as the main area of need).
